Winnie Harlow's rise to fame has been swift these past few years. Her ascension has happened partly despite but also partly because of one of her most obvious physical traits: the white spots on her skin. These spots, due to a condition called vitiligo, would have been unimaginable on an A-list model even five years ago. Harlow, however, has made what some are calling a breakthrough (she won an award for "Breakthrough Model Of The Year").
The amount of online dirt that Harlow must get is surprising considering the amount of time the public has had to acquaint itself with vitiligo. After all, Michael Jackson, the biggest pop star ever, announced his vitiligo publicly more than twenty years ago. When he was criticized for "whitewashing" himself, he corrected his critics by explaining, on Oprah, how he wasn't trying to look white, he just wanted his body to be of uniform colour rather than have pigment-less spots here and there. The New York Times quoted his doctor at the time: "It is not contagious and is a result of the loss of pigment producing cells of the skin."
For those who still insist on being weird about it, relax. As Amber Rose says, "she’s a fucking sweetheart."
